Plotting Rennes' Route In The UECL
The Foxes welcome Les Rouge et Noir to Filbert Way for an 8pm GMT kick-off on Thursday, before heading to France's Brittany region seven days later. Starting out in the competition's play-offs, Rennes have faced sides from Norway, Holland, Slovenia and England on their route to the last-16.
A sixth-placed finish in Ligue 1 last term, courtesy of six wins in their 10 final matches under manager Bruno Génésio, qualified the three-time Coupe de France winners for the inaugural Europa Conference League qualifying play-offs. Norwegian outfit Rosenborg awaited them over two legs in August.
Goals from Nayef Aguerd and Serhou Guirassy gave Rennes the perfect start in the first leg at Roazhon Park. It was a strong, but surmountable lead - work still needed to be done in Trondheim. Romain Del Castillo and Aguerd, though, handed the French side a 4-0 lead on aggregate before half-time.
Stefano Vecchia's spot-kick presented the possibility of an unlikely Rosenborg comeback, before Matthis Abline put the tie beyond any doubt in the latter moments. After starring in the UEFA Champions League a year earlier, Génésio's men were once again in the group stage of a European tournament.
Drawn into Group G, their opener could hardly have been any tougher, teeing them up against Tottenham Hotspur. It was at home, but Loïc Badé's 11th-minute own goal handed Nuno Espírito Santo's Premier League visitors the lead. Flavien Tait, however, had them back on terms swiftly.
In the 72nd minute, Gaëtan Laborde pounced on Pierluigi Gollini's parry to fire Rennes ahead. Their dreams of beating Spurs, though, were over when Pierre-Emile Højbjerg's prodded home from close range. A commendable draw to start the Brittany side off in the new competition.
Despite trailing at Vitesse in the Netherlands, and then losing Badé to a red card midway through the second half, Rennes had already overturned the deficit to lead in Arnhem, through strikes from Guirassy and Kamaldeen Sulemana. Another 2-1 win, with Guirassy and Laborde netting, came at Mura.
The Slovenians put up a fight in France, meanwhile, but Les Rennais held out, winning 1-0 on home soil, with Badé again on the scoresheet. A stunning Laborde hat-trick was the headline at Roazhon Park on matchday five, putting Rennes in a commending position against Vitesse, but late goals from Thomas Buitink and Loïs Openda, when added to Daan Huisman's earlier goal, denied Rennes all three points.
That was already enough to confirm their place in the round of 16 - before a final clash with Tottenham Hotspur was abandoned due to several positive cases of COVID-19 at the north London club. UEFA later ruled that 'therefore [Tottenham were] deemed to have lost the match 0-3'.
In the end, Rennes finished top of Group G on 14 points, four clear of Vitesse, who themselves were three above Spurs. Although Leicester City contested a knockout round play-off tie - beating Danish side Randers 7-2 on aggregate - Les Rouge et Noir progressed straight into the last-16.
Tickets for the first leg round of 16 knockout clash with Rennes are now on general sale. To buy, click HERE.